Chapter 140

  It has been six hours since the Allied Forces launched their attack, and both sides have lost a considerable number of fleets. The Empire's fleet led by Marshal Reinhard von Lohengramm has decreased from 40,000 to less than 25,000, while Fleet Admiral Ovlesser's Imperial 17th Fleet has shrunk from 18,000 to 14,000 ships; the Allied fleet has also decreased from over 53,000 warships at the start of the battle to around 38,000, with the Allied generals performing quite well in terms of specific tactics, maintaining an exchange ratio of 1:1.2.

  The Fifth Fleet of Vice Admiral Bikkurin launched another attack, this time targeting the fleet of Fafnir. "Indeed, the old man is quite a fighter! This tactic is forcing me to exchange one for one." At the same time, the 10th Fleet of Ulanhu and the 13th Fleet of Yang Weili, who had just repelled the Imperial Double Wall, also began to retreat while making efforts to attack Fafnir's fleet with side fire and Spartanian fighters.

  "Damn it! Gustav! Order the entire fleet to fall back and regroup! Close combat is not worth it at all! We don't need to take on three at once here." Favniel complained as he gave orders, "What Imperial Double Wall? Just one urgent shot and we have to retreat... But that Persian cat is really quite cunning, his losses aren't great, are they?"

  "I see that the losses of the Persian cat are already halved, I remember when he first arrived at Jin Mao's place, he was equipped with 12,000 ships, now it seems that there are only about 7,000 left." General Schuttk?mpfer said after glancing at the three-dimensional screen.

  "What a mess! Why does that little guy like to play it so risky? He's got a quick temper and likes to divide his troops... I say, give him a fleet commander position or something! No need to promote him to Marshal!" Fafnir's words didn't expect an answer.

  Old Admiral Bicknell also stopped advancing in time when he retreated to reorganize the line behind Fawfnir, and received the 10th Fleet and the 13th Fleet back into formation. Now, the Allied forces have reunited again, but there is a recessed part in their line - Fawfnir's fleet.

  "Now the entire army is retreating, retreating in the direction of the corridor! Prepare to start the withdrawal battle!" Old General Bikku said in the Admiral's communication, "The 13th and 12th fleets with relatively small losses will serve as the rearguard, and the remnants of the 9th and 8th fleets will be reinforced for you. It all depends on you! Yang! Borodin! My 5th and 10th fleets will start retreating first to establish a second line of defense, preparing to start rolling back!"

  The Allied forces began to retreat step by step, first quickly flattening the front line - before Fafnir could advance further, they abandoned many positions and faced Fafnir's frontal assault. Yang's fleet was already facing Fafnir head-on, slowing down his advance, while on the other side, Bickham began to retreat rapidly, and Borodin's fleet quickly flattened its line with Yang's, fighting in unison against Fafnir.

  Fafnir didn't have the idea of taking chestnuts from a burning fire for Reinhardt, "No need to rush! Go at normal speed! Line up in a row and give me full firepower!" Fafnir was already outnumbered by the two Allied fleets he faced, so he had no intention of learning from Vale's forced charge.

  "Both sides are doing pretty well!" Reinhardt muttered as he gazed at the screen.

  Although the General Headquarters was far behind, the command of the whole army was not smooth enough. However, the Allied Forces were brave and good at fighting. Especially the actions of the 13th Fleet were extremely swift and fierce, and its commander was Yang Weili! As the saying goes, "A strong general has no weak soldiers", this is exactly what it means!

  Reinhardt glanced inadvertently at Oberstein.

  "Has Jill Fairs not arrived yet?"

  "Not yet!"

  The chief of staff replied simply. Unintentionally or intentionally, he asked in a tone full of probing: "Very worried? Your Excellency!"

  "Not worried, just want to confirm!"

  Reinhardt responded as if he had been told a central truth, then fell silent and gazed at the screen.

  At this time, Gilfeather, who led one-third of the Imperial Army's forces, bypassed the sun of the Yamato Star System and attacked the Allied Forces from behind.

  "It's later than scheduled, I'm a bit anxious!"

  To avoid surveillance by the Allied Forces, Gilgamesh navigated close to the surface of the sun. However, the intense magnetic and gravitational forces were more than they had anticipated, and under their influence, the pilots had to resort to manual calculations to determine their course. As a result, they fell behind schedule, but ultimately arrived at the destination in outer space.

  Behind the Allied Forces - a vast expanse of cosmic minefield scattered.

  In the mind of the Allied forces, even if the Imperial Army came from behind, these 40 million nuclear fusion mines would block their way. Although Yang couldn't be completely at ease, he also believed that the enemy, even with the means to break through the minefield, wouldn't be able to do so in a short period of time. Therefore, there should still be enough time to make sufficient preparations for battle before the enemy arrived on the battlefield.

  However, the means of the Imperial Army were beyond Yang's expectations.

  "Radiate directional Jie-fu particles!"

  Jill Firth gave orders.

  The Imperial Army successfully developed directional Zeon particles before the Alliance Army and this war was the first to actually use them in combat.

  There are three cylindrical radiating devices guided by the work vessel towards the mine group.

  "If we don't hurry up, those damned enemies might get away!"

  One of his staff, Colonel Gantz, spoke up loudly, and Jill Feathers smiled wryly.

  A dense cluster of particles, like a cloud column of interstellar matter, passed through the minefield. The heat and mass sensors installed on the mines did not react at all.

  Three hours later.

  "Jie Fu particles have reached the opposite side of the minefield!"

  The forward destroyer has sent back its report.

  "Alright! Ignite!"

  Gillfieth's single command sent the three beam cannons on the vanguard setting off beams in three different directions.

  In an instant, three huge fire pillars tore through the cluster of mines. After the blinding flash disappeared, three large holes were dug out in the minefield, and all the mines at those locations were detonated.

  However, in a short period of time, three safe passages with a diameter of 200 kilometers and a length of 30,000 kilometers, forming a tunnel-shaped structure, were formed right in the center of the minefield.

  "Full fleet charge! Advance at maximum combat speed!" Under the command of the red-haired young admiral, the Imperial Army launched a massive assault. Twenty-five thousand warships sped towards the rear of the distant Allied Forces.

  At this moment, "Fire! Full salvo!" The command sounded on the communication circuit of the Allied Forces. The three thousand Allied warships that had been deployed here for a long time since the Iselrun Fortress - Robers' own fleet dispatched from the fortress, also the last reserve of the alliance, opened fire.

  This fleet was ordered by Marshal Robers to reinforce the frontline cluster in the Yameliza star system, but when advancing near the minefield, at the suggestion of Yang Weili and approved by General Bikou: "Let this fleet protect our last retreat... Don't join the melee, their mission is to hold our rear firmly, and use it as a reserve force during withdrawal."

  They had been lingering outside the minefield of Yamato Star System for more than four hours, no matter how the front line was fought, General Bikku never ordered them to give up their previous mission and reinforce the formation. Now, this backhand finally played its due and great effect!

  Three thousand warships launched multiple rapid salvoes! The Imperial Army's flanking fleet, which had just emerged from the passage, was hit hard by the vanguard. Gilfieth lost three thousand high-speed warships in just twenty minutes, and its formation was completely disrupted. If these three thousand Allied warships were not annihilated, it would be impossible to successfully attack the rear of the Allied main fleet.

  "Enemy fleet is approaching from behind!" The message appeared in the Allied Forces' communication, causing a downturn in morale among all soldiers.

  "Cease transmission! All fleets, accelerate retreat immediately! The defensive line of our fleet and the 10th fleet is complete! Yang! Borodin! Hurry back to our rear and redeploy the defensive line again! We must act faster! Admiral Roberts' direct fleet can only buy us an extra hour and a half at most!"

  Reinhardt's face turned pale, "We can't wipe out all of our enemies now!"

  "We have still emerged victorious! Your Excellency!" The emotionless Chief of Staff said.

  Ghilleyes succeeded in driving off the Allied fleet in less than an hour, destroying more than two-thirds of the enemy, but ultimately failed to arrive at the designated location in time. The Allied army also successfully completed its retreat and accelerated its withdrawal speed. Ghilleyes could only make a side attack on the Allied army - because the 12th Fleet, which had retreated first, was blocking the way he wanted to cut off the Allied army's retreat...

  The battle was now in its final stages, and the Allied troops retreated one after another into the Corridor under mutual cover.

  "Headquarters telegram! Return after sweeping away the remaining enemy troops!"

  Imperial Communications Officer releases report.

  The defeated fleet of the Free Planets Alliance quietly set foot on the return journey to Iserlohn Fortress. They lost more than half of their ships, and only 320,000 ships returned to Iserlohn, with only 17 million out of 30 million soldiers returning - fortunately, the alliance's contraction was relatively timely, and there were not many losses in ground security and land combat troops, and some damaged warships were also repaired in Iserlohn. The original number of combat vessels dispatched by the Alliance was 1 million, and now they have lost more than 600,000 vessels.

  The Empire's losses also left Reinhardt pale, his marshal's office originally had half of the Empire's actual combat fleet, with more than 90,000 warships. Now that three fleets have been lost, an admiral has died, and less than 50,000 warships remain after final repairs, simply in terms of losses, not much better than the Alliance. Fortunately, he completed the campaign goal given to him - repelling the Allied offensive. However, the marshal's office can be said to have suffered a huge loss, and it is estimated that the great nobles can celebrate with joy.

  The losses of the Fawfnir fleet were the largest in history - over three thousand five hundred warships are irreparable, and the number of dead is approaching three million.

  "Looks like the blond brat is still going to be stubborn... I wonder if he'll learn his lesson." Schuttkamp said to his old friend and superior.

  "I think he won't learn his lesson. He might even become more impatient... After all, the pressure on those nobles is no joke, but those insects may not have that ability. In the end, it will still be up to the Golden Hair to take them down one by one... Who knows?" Fafnir replied.

  This defeat has a profound impact on the Free Planets Alliance in all aspects, including politics, economy, society and military! When calculating the cost of losses and the compensation for the bereaved families and pensions to be paid later, the financial authorities couldn't help but change their faces!

  On the other hand, the families of soldiers and anti-war activists strongly condemned this expedition by the government and military, which had no chance of winning. The citizens who lost their husbands and sons were filled with grief and indignation, and strongly criticized the incompetence of the government and the military.

  The prestige of the war faction plummeted, while that of the anti-war faction soared. The three councilors who voted against the expedition were highly praised for their opinions and were retained. Before the elections of the following year, Trinité temporarily took control of the government as chairman of the defense committee.

  In his study at home, Trueniwest raised a glass to celebrate his foresight, and the word "temporary" would soon be deleted from his title.

  In the military, both Chief of Staff General Sitre and Commander-in-Chief of the Space Fleet Admiral Lobos resigned. Some say that Lobos finally brought down his rival Sitre with his own defeat.

  Reinhardt, who returned triumphant from the Battle of Yamthys, did not expect to be greeted by a sea of mourning flags planted on the ground in the Imperial capital of Odin.

  The Emperor has passed away!

  He died of acute heart disease. The cause of his sudden death, apart from indulging in wine and women and improper care, seems to have a great deal to do with the blood of the Hohenzollern royal family; he died too suddenly.

  "Now, it's time to name the price!" Two people who were far apart from each other, one being a majestic golden lion and the other being a notorious brutal "Dragon" and noble rascal, spoke out in unison.